A modified method for constructing efficient solutions structure of MOLP

This paper deals with a recently proposed algorithm for obtaining all weak efficient and efficient solutions in a multi objective linear programming (MOLP) problem. The algorithm is based on solving some weighted sum problems, and presents an easy and clear solution structure. We first present an example to show that the algorithm may fail when at least one of these weighted sum problems has not a finite optimal solution. Then, the algorithm is modified to overcome this problem. The modified algorithm determines whether an efficient solution exists for a given MOLP and generates the solution set correctly (if exists) without any change in the complexity.     

Determining maximal efficient faces in multiobjective linear programming problem

Finding an efficient or weakly efficient solution in a multiobjective linear programming (MOLP) problem is not a difficult task. The difficulty lies in finding all these solutions and representing their structures. Since there are many convenient approaches that obtain all of the (weakly) efficient extreme points and (weakly) efficient extreme rays in an MOLP, this paper develops an algorithm which effectively finds all of the (weakly) efficient maximal faces in an MOLP using all of the (weakly) efficient extreme points and extreme rays. The proposed algorithm avoids the degeneration problem, which is the major problem of the most of previous algorithms and gives an explicit structure for maximal efficient (weak efficient) faces. Consequently, it gives a convenient representation of efficient (weak efficient) set using maximal efficient (weak efficient) faces. The proposed algorithm is based on two facts. Firstly, the efficiency and weak efficiency property of a face is determined using a relative interior point of it. Secondly, the relative interior point is achieved using some affine independent points. Indeed, the affine independent property enable us to obtain an efficient relative interior point rapidly.     

Hybrid Approach for Solving Multiple-Objective Linear Programs in Outcome Space

Various difficulties arise in using decision set-based vector maximization methods to solve a multiple-objective linear programming problem (MOLP). Motivated by these difficulties, some researchers in recent years have begun to develop tools for analyzing and solving problem (MOLP) in outcome space, rather than in decision space. In this article, we present and validate a new hybrid vector maximization approach for solving problem (MOLP) in outcome space. The approach systematically integrates a simplicial partitioning technique into an outer approximation procedure to yield an algorithm that generates the set of all efficient extreme points in the outcome set of problem (MOLP) in a finite number of iterations. Some key potential practical and computational advantages of the approach are indicated.     

Using Efficient Anchoring Points for Generating Search Directions in Interior Multiobjective Linear Programming

This paper modifies the affine-scaling primal algorithm to multiobjective linear programming (MOLP) problems. The modification is based on generating search directions in the form of projected gradients augmented by search directions pointing toward what we refer to as anchoring points. These anchoring points are located on the boundary of the feasible region and, together with the current, interior, iterate, define a cone in which we make the next step towards a solution of the MOLP problem. These anchoring points can be generated in more than one way. In this paper we present an approach that generates efficient anchoring points where the choice of termination solution available to the decision maker at each iteration consists of a set of efficient solutions. This set of efficient solutions is being updated during the iterative process so that only the most preferred solutions are retained for future considerations. Current MOLP algorithms are simplex-based and make their progress toward the optimal solution by following an exterior trajectory along the vertices of the constraints polytope. Since the proposed algorithm makes its progress through the interior of the constraints polytope, there is no need for vertex information and, therefore, the search for an acceptable solution may prove less sensitive to problem size. We refer to the resulting class of MOLP algorithms that are based on the affine-scaling primal algorithm as affine-scaling interior multiobjective linear programming (ASIMOLP) algorithms.     

Approximating the nondominated set of an MOLP by approximately solving its dual problem

The geometric duality theory of Heyde and Löhne (2006) defines a dual to a multiple objective linear programme (MOLP). In objective space, the primal problem can be solved by Benson’s outer approximation method (Benson 1998a,b) while the dual problem can be solved by a dual variant of Benson’s algorithm (Ehrgott et al. 2007). Duality theory then assures that it is possible to find the (weakly) nondominated set of the primal MOLP by solving its dual. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to solve the dual MOLP approximately but within specified tolerance. This approximate solution set can be used to calculate an approximation of the weakly nondominated set of the primal. We show that this set is a weakly ε-nondominated set of the original primal MOLP and provide numerical evidence that this approach can be faster than solving the primal MOLP approximately.     

Goal programming using multiple objective hybrid metaheuristic algorithm

In this paper, a Goal Programming (GP) model is converted into a multi-objective optimization problem (MOO) of minimizing deviations from fixed goals. To solve the resulting MOO problem, a hybrid metaheuristic with two steps is proposed to find the Pareto set's solutions. First, a Record-to-Record Travel with an adaptive memory is used to find first non-dominated Pareto frontier solutions preemptively. Second, a Variable Neighbour Search technique with three transformation types is used to intensify every non dominated solution found in the first Pareto frontier to produce the final Pareto frontier solutions. The efficiency of the proposed approach is demonstrated by solving two nonlinear GP test problems and three engineering design problems. In all problems, multiple solutions to the GP problem are found in one single simulation run. The results prove that the proposed algorithm is robust, fast and simply structured, and manages to find high-quality solutions in short computational times by efficiently alternating search diversification and intensification using very few user-defined parameters.     

The biobjective travelling purchaser problem

The purpose of this article is to present and solve the Biobjective Travelling Purchaser Problem, which consists in determining a route through a subset of markets in order to collect a set of products, minimizing the travel distance and the purchasing cost simultaneously. The most convenient purchase of the product in the visited markets is easily computed once the route has been determined. Therefore, this problem contains a finite set of solutions (one for each route) and the problem belongs to the field of the Biobjective Combinatorial Optimization. It is here formulated as a Biobjective Mixed Integer Linear Programming model with an exponential number of valid inequalities, and this model is used within a cutting plane algorithm to generate the set of all supported and non-supported efficient points in the objective space. A variant of the algorithm computes only supported efficient points. For each efficient point in the objective space exactly one Pareto optimal solution in the decision space is computed by solving a single-objective problem. Each of these single-objective problems, in turn, is solved by a specific branch-and-cut approach. A heuristic improvement based on saving previously generated cuts in a common cut-pool structure has also been developed with the aim of speeding up the algorithm performance. Results based on benchmark instances from literature show that the common cut-pool heuristic is very useful, and that the proposed algorithm manages to solve instances containing up to 100 markets and 200 different products. The general procedure can be extended to address other biobjective combinatorial optimization problems whenever a branch-and-cut algorithm is available to solve a single-objective linear combination of these criteria.     

Weak sharp solutions for variational inequalities in Banach spaces

In this paper, we introduce the notion of a weak sharp set of solutions to a variational inequality problem (VIP) in a reflexive, strictly convex and smooth Banach space, and present its several equivalent conditions. We also prove, under some continuity and monotonicity assumptions, that if any sequence generated by an algorithm for solving (VIP) converges to a weak sharp solution, then we can obtain solutions for (VIP) by solving a finite number of convex optimization subproblems with linear objective. Moreover, in order to characterize finite convergence of an iterative algorithm, we introduce the notion of a weak subsharp set of solutions to a variational inequality problem (VIP), which is more general than that of weak sharp solutions in Hilbert spaces. We establish a sufficient and necessary condition for the finite convergence of an algorithm for solving (VIP) which satisfies that the sequence generated by which converges to a weak subsharp solution of (VIP), and show that the proximal point algorithm satisfies this condition. As a consequence, we prove that the proximal point algorithm possesses finite convergence whenever the sequence generated by which converges to a weak subsharp solution of (VIP).     

An Interior Multiple Objective Primal-dual Linear Programming Algorithm Using Efficient Anchoring Points

We present an interior Multiple Objective Linear Programming (MOLP) algorithm based on the path-following primal-dual algorithm. In contrast to the simplex algorithm, which generates a solution path on the exterior of the constraints polytope by following its vertices, the path-following primal-dual algorithm moves through the interior of the polytope. Interior algorithms lend themselves to modifications capable of addressing MOLP problems in a way that is quite different from current solution approaches. In addition, moving through the interior of the polytope results in a solution approach that is less sensitive to problem size than simplex-based MOLP algorithms. The modification of the interior single-objective algorithm to MOLP problems, as presented here, is accomplished by combining the step direction vectors generated by applying the single-objective algorithm to each of the cost vectors into a combined direction vector along which we step from the current iterate to the next iterate.     

An MOLP based procedure for finding efficient units in DEA models

In this paper a multiple objective linear programming (MOLP) problem whose feasible region is the production possibility set with variable returns to scale is proposed. By solving this MOLP problem by multicriterion simplex method, the extreme efficient Pareto points can be obtained. Then the extreme efficient units in data envelopment analysis (DEA) with variable returns to scale, considering the specified theorems and conditions, can be obtained. Therefore, by solving the proposed MOLP problem, the non-dominant units in DEA can be found. Finally, a numerical example is provided.     

Image space analysis of generalized fractional programs

The solution of a particular nonconvex program is usually very dependent on the structure of the problem. In this paper we identify classes of nonconvex problems involving either sums or products of ratios of linear terms which may be treated by analysis in a transformed space. In each class, the image space is defined by a mapping which associates a new variable with each original ratio of linear terms. In the image space, optimization is easy in certain directions, and the overall solution may be realized by sequentially optimizing in these directions.In addition to these ratio problems, we also show how to use image space analysis to treat the subclass of problems whose objective is to optimize a product of linear terms. For each class of nonconvex problems, we present an algorithm that locates global solutions by computing both upper and lower bounds on the solution and then solving a sequence of linear programming sub-problems. We also demonstrate the algorithms described in this paper by solving several example problems.     

Pareto Simulated Annealing for Fuzzy Multi-Objective Combinatorial Optimization

The paper presents a metaheuristic method for solving fuzzy multi-objective combinatorial optimization problems. It extends the Pareto simulated annealing (PSA) method proposed originally for the crisp multi-objective combinatorial (MOCO) problems and is called fuzzy Pareto simulated annealing (FPSA). The method does not transform the original fuzzy MOCO problem to an auxiliary deterministic problem but works in the original fuzzy objective space. Its goal is to find a set of approximately efficient solutions being a good approximation of the whole set of efficient solutions defined in the fuzzy objective space. The extension of PSA to FPSA requires the definition of the dominance in the fuzzy objective space, modification of rules for calculating probability of accepting a new solution and application of a defuzzification operator for updating the average position of a solution in the objective space. The use of the FPSA method is illustrated by its application to an agricultural multi-objective project scheduling problem.     

Generalized viscosity approximation methods in multiobjective optimization problems

In this paper, we consider an extend-valued nonsmooth multiobjective optimization problem of finding weak Pareto optimal solutions. We propose a class of vector-valued generalized viscosity approximation method for solving the problem. Under some conditions, we prove that any sequence generated by this method converges to a weak Pareto optimal solution of the multiobjective optimization problem.     

Generalized Homotopy Approach to Multiobjective Optimization

This paper proposes a new generalized homotopy algorithm for the solution of multiobjective optimization problems with equality constraints. We consider the set of Pareto candidates as a differentiable manifold and construct a local chart which is fitted to the local geometry of this Pareto manifold. New Pareto candidates are generated by evaluating the local chart numerically. The method is capable of solving multiobjective optimization problems with an arbitrary number k of objectives, makes it possible to generate all types of Pareto optimal solutions, and is able to produce a homogeneous discretization of the Pareto set. The paper gives a necessary and sufficient condition for the set of Pareto candidates to form a (k-1)-dimensional differentiable manifold, provides the numerical details of the proposed algorithm, and applies the method to two multiobjective sample problems.     

Pareto optima for total weighted completion time and maximum lateness on a single machine

We consider the single-machine bicriterion scheduling problem of enumerating the Pareto-optimal sequences with respect to the total weighted completion time and the maximum lateness objectives. We show that the master sequence concept originally introduced for 1|r_j|∑w_jU_j by Dauzère-Pérès and Sevaux is also applicable to our problem and a large number of other sequencing problems. Our unified development is based on exploiting common order-theoretic structures present in all these problems. We also show that the master sequence implies the existence of global dominance orders for these scheduling problems. These dominance results were incorporated into a new branch and bound algorithm, which was able to enumerate all the Pareto optima for over 90% of the 1440 randomly generated problems with up to n=50 jobs. The identification of each Pareto optimum implicitly requires the optimal solution of a strongly NP-hard problem. The instances solved had hundreds of these Pareto solutions and to the best of our knowledge, this is the first algorithm capable of completely enumerating all Pareto sequences within reasonable time and space for a scheduling problem with such a large number of Pareto optima.     

Existence and Boundedness of Solutions in Infinite-Dimensional Vector Optimization Problems

This work focuses on the nonemptiness and boundedness of the sets of efficient and weak efficient solutions of a vector optimization problem, where the decision space is a normed space and the image space is a locally convex Hausdorff topological linear space. By studying certain boundedness and coercivity concepts of vector-valued functions and via an asymptotic analysis, we extend to this kind of problems some well-known existence and boundedness results for efficient and weak efficient solutions of multiobjective optimization problems with Pareto or polyhedral orderings. Some of these results are proved under weaker assumptions.     

On a generalized proximal point method for solving equilibrium problems in Banach spaces

We introduce a regularized equilibrium problem in Banach spaces, involving generalized Bregman functions. For this regularized problem, we establish the existence and uniqueness of solutions. These regularizations yield a proximal-like method for solving equilibrium problems in Banach spaces. We prove that the proximal sequence is an asymptotically solving sequence when the dual space is uniformly convex. Moreover, we prove that all weak accumulation points are solutions if the equilibrium function is lower semicontinuous in its first variable. We prove, under additional assumptions, that the proximal sequence converges weakly to a solution.     

Fuzzy Optimization Problems Based on Ordering Cones

The solution concepts of the fuzzy optimization problems using ordering cone (convex cone) are proposed in this paper. We introduce an equivalence relation to partition the set of all fuzzy numbers into the equivalence classes. We then prove that this set of equivalence classes turns into a real vector space under the settings of vector addition and scalar multiplication. The notions of ordering cone and partial ordering on a vector space are essentially equivalent. Therefore, the optimality notions in the set of equivalence classes (in fact, a real vector space) can be naturally elicited by using the similar concept of Pareto optimal solution in vector optimization problems. Given an optimization problem with fuzzy coefficients, we introduce its corresponding (usual) optimization problem. Finally, we prove that the optimal solutions of its corresponding optimization problem are the Pareto optimal solutions of the original optimization problem with fuzzy coefficients.     

Anchoring Points and Cones of Opportunities in Interior Multiobjective Linear Programming

This paper presents a modification of one variant of Karmarkar's interior-point linear programming algorithm to Multiobjective Linear Programming (MOLP) problems. We show that by taking the variant known as the affine-scaling primal algorithm, generating locally-relevant scaling coefficients and applying them to the projected gradients produced by it, we can define what we refer to as anchoring points that then define cones in which we search for an optimal solution through interaction with the decision maker. Currently existing MOLP algorithms are simplex-based and make their progress toward the optimal solution by following the vertices of the constraints polytope. Since the proposed algorithm makes its progress through the interior of the constraints polytope, there is no need for vertex information and, therefore, the search for an optimal solution may prove less sensitive to problem size. We refer to the class of MOLP algorithms resulting from this variant as Affine-Scaling Interior Multiobjective Linear Programming (ASIMOLP) algorithms.     

Scalarization and decomposition of vector variational inequalities governed by bifunctions

In this article we study the structure of solution sets within a special class of generalized Stampacchia-type vector variational inequalities, defined by means of a bifunction which takes values in a partially ordered Euclidean space. It is shown that, similar to multicriteria optimization problems, under appropriate convexity assumptions, the (weak) solutions of these vector variational inequalities can be recovered by solving a family of weighted scalar variational inequalities. Consequently, it is deduced that the set of weak solutions can be decomposed into the union of the sets of strong solutions of all variational inequalities obtained from the original one by selecting certain components of the bifunction which governs it.